


Big Brother

by harvestleaves



Series: Out of Breath [3]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Asthma, Big Brother Judd, Gen, TK needs to speak up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22520245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harvestleaves/pseuds/harvestleaves
Summary: TK has an asthma attack after a call and Judd goes into big brother mode.
Relationships: TK Strand & Judd Ryder
Series: Out of Breath [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618924
Comments: 16
Kudos: 418





	Big Brother

TK let out a shaky breath as they were loading back onto the rig after a fire at an office building. It was an easy enough call, but also his first one without his dad there to give him orders. Owen was taking the day off to recover from his chemo the day before and had placed Judd in charge of running the calls. It was a new situation for TK and made him feel more vulnerable than he’d expected, though by how well the team still functioned, he knew they were going to be just fine. Stifling a few coughs into his sleeve, TK winced as an audible wheeze started to trail his exhales, oblivious to the worried look that Judd was starting to shoot his way. If he wasn’t so worried about his pride, he would’ve just taken his inhaler out of his pocket there to use it instead of waiting until he got back to the station.

TK was never really great at self-preservation.

Which is how Judd came to find TK doubled over on a bench in the locker room after a shower, deep chesty coughs rattling in his chest as he gripped his inhaler tightly. Moving to sit next to the younger man, Judd gently settled a hand on his still damp back to rub soothing circles, like how Grace did whenever he had a panic attack.

“Slow, deep breaths kid. In through your nose, and out through your mouth.”The tone he used was more gentle than he’d ever expected to use towards the younger man. From the previous attacks he’d witnessed however, TK didn’t do well when other people panicked because it seemed to stress him out more. In this state, TK seemed so much younger to Judd than 26, skittish and latching onto whoever made him feel safe, sort of like a kitten.

TK nodded shakily as he tried to comply with Judds suggestion and let another round of coughs out as he tried to shake his inhaler up again. Seeing how shaky TKs hands were, Judd figured the medicine wasn’t going to fully mix and he gently pried the object from the younger's hand to take over. Once he’d gotten the inhaler, he gave it a few quick shakes before gently guiding it up to TK’s lips to give him a dose.

Gasping in the albuterol, TK squeezed his eyes shut and let in settle in his lungs before he let out a slow breath, rubbing tears from his eyes before setting a hand over his sore chest. “I-I’m okay now. I promise,” he mumbled as he ran a hand over his face, pretty sure he’d just overexerted himself at their last call.

“You sure kid? That sounded like a bad attack, and you’re still wheezing. C’mon, your dad put one of your breathing machines in his office after your last attack with Marjan. Let’s get you a treatment,” Judd spoke soothingly as he reached for an Austin Fire sweatshirt for TK to slip on, the younger man not even bothering to zip it up as he stood.

Swaying slightly, TK squeezed his eyes shut once more as Judd wrapped an arm around his shoulders to pull him into a side hug, worried he was going to have to call Carlos to have him take TK to the ER. “Woah, easy there kiddo, just lean into me, everything’s gonna be okay. I don’t need your boy coming to kick my ass because I let your attack get bad,” Judd joked to relieve the tension as he slowly led TK upstairs to Owen’s office.

TK watched Judd pull out the nebulizer and set it up with skilled ease and raised an eyebrow as the mask was held out for him to take.

“Don’t give me that look. Just take the damn mask, your hands are shakier than a stampede of horses. We both know you can’t hold the mouthpiece like that,” Judd reminded TK as he reluctantly took the mask and slid it on over his head, greedily gasping in the medicine as he finally relaxed against the chair he was sitting in.

“That’s it brother, just breathe. I thought your dad said these didn’t happen often. Maybe you need to get those shitty lungs of yours checked out, get put on some better medicine.”

TK rolled his eyes at the obvious concern Judd was showing before a slight smirk graced his lips and he lowered his mask briefly to talk.

“You do care about me. I knew you were secretly a teddy bear, underneath all that barbed wire of course,” he teased before another round of coughs had Judd guiding the mask back onto TK’s face with a roll of his eyes, though a small laugh showed he wasn’t really angry.

“You tell anyone I’m goin’ soft on you and no one, I mean no one, will let me live it down.”

TK grinned behind the mask as Judd reached out to ruffle his hair affectionately before he leaned into the comforting touch. Judd was still getting used to their dysfunctional little family, but he was definitely glad he had a new little brother to look out for, knowing that TK needed as much reassurance as he himself did.

“By the way, you know I’m gonna have to tell Carlos about this, right?” Judd grinned as he pulled out his phone to call TK’s boyfriend, laughing as the younger man tried to reach for the object with a whine and grabby hands.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any prompts, you can submit them to my [tumblr](https://harvestleaves.tumblr.com).


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